Movie editing softwares - Avid Technology

This is the last of the movie editing softwares series. Actually we could go on covering more of these but I was thinking you only want to work with the 'big boys' as I do so stick with best and forget about the rest. Today we will be looking at Avid Technology movie editing softwares. Avid is an American company specializing in audio and video production since 1987, audio and video production only, nothing else. That's why it's more known to professionals in television and broadcast industry. What do they have to offer to their market against their competitors? Do they really have a competition? Let's go and find out.

DS Nitris

One of the most powerful movie editing software ever. This software is like After Effects, Photoshop, and Illustrator combined into one package! Now you can add textures, blurs, soft edges to text, you can even treat texts individually and animate it over time. Since the characters are vector-based, you always get that crisp edges on texts no matter how you bend or distort it.

Powerful 3D DVE, vector paint, motion tracking, keying, compositing, title, color correction tools, and a lot of processing power. As for the rendering, DS Nitris will take the fastest computer you can find and maximize it.

DS is now using Media Composer style interface and even works seemlessly together. You won't feel it much any different even with an effects heavy sequence imported to either of the two. And with realtime performance, you can't help but love this software.


Media Composer

Same interface packed with tons of features. Now it supports the widely popular XDCams using Sony's XDcam Transfer Tool. Enhanced control for content drag and drop to timeline, enhanced keyframing controls in the effects editor, and the ability to copy, paste, and even remove redundant keyframes from content already in your timeline. But if there is something missing from Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro, it is Avid’s superior timecode support and on-screen display with the new AVX version of the Timecode Generator plug-in. The SubCap Generator, a new AVX plug-in in this version, allows for the dynamic compositing of text and the coordinated graphics onscreen.

Sometimes, tools within the application can make or break a software, so here's a list of what's in store for you in Media Composer:

1. Avid MediaLog for logging video information and metadata
2. Avid LogExchange, which handles information for film-to-videotape transfers
3. Avid FilmScribe, to handle change and cut lists required when finishing to a celluloid master
4. Avid EDL Master, used to transfer or translate edit data into varying industry types and formats
5. Avid MetaSync Manager, a new tool designed for interactive object programming and metadata content creation on a Mac

Avid FX is now seamlessly integrated with Media Composer as a supplementary editing mode for your titling, on screen graphics, and effects needs

Rather than developing their own effects packages, Avid tries to scour the market instead for the best third party plugin available which includes:

• Smart Sound’s Sonicfire Pro 4.5, with both Core Foundations and Core Sessions libraries for audio content creation
• Sorenson Squeeze 5, for Internet and DVD compression
• Boris Continuum Complete 5, for advanced graphic effects and transition

However, Mac users will find it disappointing to know that it lacks a DVD software.

Now that Avid has opened its doors for a software only version, prosumers can now enjoy Media Composer's features without the industrial price tag of the hardware.


NewsCutter Adrenaline

The NewsCutter Adrenaline FX system significantly expands news editing capabilities with industry-leading speed, reliability, and the broadest range of professional news-oriented editing and workflow features in a single, turnkey PC-based platform. The system also supports a broad range of video formats from DV and IMX to uncompressed SD over a standard FireWire(R) connection, 24-bit audio, and the highest quality 3D effects in the industry, including Marquee(R) real-time 3D titling and effects.


Symphony Nitris

Realtime layering will give you a feel of what it is capable of. Load it with whatever you need in the production industry and still you won't get any dropped frames.

Avid Symphony is about color correction, this is the main reason why you'll buy it in the first place. With new features such as color cast removal and vector locks which were taken from the Adrenaline products.

Isolating the colors to be keyed is actually quite similar to the keyer in Autodesk Discreet Flame in that you can choose a vector display called SpectraGraph to help narrow down the key color. Its range of controls are far superior to those of the previous chromakeyers, and the results are clean. Or you can monitor the created alpha.

Speed doing repetitive tasks, scrolling, manipulating media, motion effects…simply getting the job done, the Symphony Nitris truly keeps up. Renders, when needed, are extremely fast, even in 16-bit processing mode. "Blue" dot effects render at close to previous "Orange" dot speeds. Even adding workspaces from my Avid Unity is faster than it once was.


Avid Xpress Pro HD

Installation is smooth, although you have to consider the hardware requirements are quite steep, and this has been always with HD intensive solutions.

The interface is almost the same with all Avid software. It will be a big effort if you haven't touched any Avid before but in the long run, this workflow interface is user-friendly and efficient to save time and effort.

Opening a new project will give you an option to a wide range of HD standard settings. One of the key features that delights small post production studios is its capability to include both HD and DV formats in one sequence, a total time saver.

If you want a feel of Avid software without much of the hardware costs, try this.


So that ends up our three-part discussion about movie editing softwares. I hope these posts will help you decide which software fits your needs. Please do come back for more video production tips and articles.